Hachette 1:43 1961 Fiat 412 Double Decker Bus: Transporto Publico Di Firenze

This vehicle is sold in a blister pack

The Fiat 412 is a double- decker city bus, atypical for Italy , produced by the Italian manufacturer Fiat Bus from 1961 . This is the first time that such a configuration has seen the light of day in an urban bus. Previously, Lancia had built a version of its famous two-decker Lancia Omicron for long-distance transport.

This vehicle was designed on order of the Brazilian public transport company of Buenos Aires for 70 vehicles.

The vehicle was developed in 1960 and marketed in 1961. It will be the first mass-produced double-decker city bus in Italy.

It was created for a very versatile use in the big cities of Italy, for mass transport in the city centers. This urban bus had little commercial success because users were reluctant to sit upstairs for fear of not having time to get off at the stop. The ATAC of Rome will count 58 specimens in its park which will remain in service until 1981.

Contrary to custom in Italy, the Fiat 412 will only receive the Metropol VE411 light alloy bodywork produced by the Aerfer company of Naples , which inaugurates a world first, a low floor.

The Fiat 412 series was equipped with the Fiat 412.H/61 horizontal 11,548 cc engine developing 176 bhp at 1,900 rpm placed transversely at the rear, an arrangement which will become the rule in all city buses of all manufacturers from from 1976. The gearbox was a semi-automatic Fiat Magneti-Marelli identical to that of the Fiat 410 .

The windshield was in spur until 1968 and the second series of 1969 inaugurates the curved windshield.